1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to touch panels and display devices using the same and, particularly, to a carbon-nanotube-based touch panel and a display device using the same.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Following the advancement in recent years of various electronic apparatuses, such as mobile phones, car navigation systems and the like, toward high performance and diversification, there has been continuous growth in the number of electronic apparatuses equipped with optically transparent touch panels at the front of their respective display devices (for example, a display such as a liquid crystal panel). A user of any such electronic apparatus operates it by pressing or touching the touch panel with a finger, a pen, a stylus, or a like tool while visually observing the display device through the touch panel. A demand thus exists for such touch panels that are superior in visibility and reliable in operation.
At present, different types of touch panels, including resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave, have been developed. The capacitive touch panel has advantages of high accuracy and excellent transparency, and thus has been widely used.
A conventional capacitive touch panel includes a glass substrate, a transparent conductive layer, and four electrodes. The material of the transparent conductive layer is indium tin oxide (ITO) or antimony tin oxide (ATO). The electrodes are made of metal and separately formed on a surface of the transparent conductive layer. Further, a protective layer is formed on the surface of the transparent conductive layer facing away from the substrate. The material of the protective layer has insulative and transparent characteristics.
In operation, an upper surface of the touch panel is contacted by a contact tool such as a user's finger or an electrical pen/stylus. Visual observation of the display of the liquid crystal display device provided behind the touch panel is possible. In use, because of an electrical field of the user, a coupling capacitance is generated between the user and the transparent conductive layer. For high frequency electrical current, the coupling capacitance is a conductor, and thus the contact tool dissipates some current from the contact point. Current through the four electrodes cooperatively replaces current lost at the contact point. The quantity of current supplied by the four electrodes is directly proportional to the distances from the contact point to the electrodes. A touch panel controller calculates the proportion of the four supplied currents, thereby detecting coordinates of the contact point on the touch panel.
The optically transparent conductive layer (for example, ITO layer) is generally formed by means of the relatively complicated ion-beam sputtering method. The ITO layer has generally poor mechanical durability, low chemical resistance, and uneven resistivity over the entire area of the touch panel. Additionally, the ITO layer has relatively low transparency. All the above-mentioned problems of the ITO layer tend to yield a touch panel with limited durability, sensitivity, accuracy, and brightness.
What is needed, therefore, is a durable touch panel with high sensitivity, accuracy, and brightness, and a display device using the same.